The countries of the EU and the western states pushed this through against initial resistance from Moscow.
EU Council President Charles Michel speaks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the host of the G-20 meeting on the island of Bali.
(dpa)
Shortly before the start of the G-20 summit in Indonesia, the chief negotiators of the European Union and the 19 leading economic powers agreed on a draft for a joint final declaration. This was confirmed by EU Council President Charles Michel early Tuesday morning at a press conference.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the EU and the western states, despite Moscow’s initial resistance, managed to get Russia’s war against Ukraine sharply condemned in the text.
The evening before, diplomats said that Russia was ready to accept such a passage. According to a Western diplomat, the Russian attack should clearly be described as a war – and not as a special military operation, as Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said.
A senior US official said Tuesday it was a strong condemnation of most members of the G-20 group. The focus was on forming the broadest possible coalition within the G-20. That was successful. “I think most members of the G-20 will make it clear that they condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine and that they see the war in Ukraine as the cause of immense economic and humanitarian suffering in the world.”
Russia’s approval of the draft text was seen as a sign that Moscow can no longer even count on the support of its powerful partner China in the G-20 group on the issue of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had already indicated that Russia would make concessions on Monday. He had said in a video from his ministry that the final declaration would be accepted.
“This year we also experienced the war in Ukraine, which further affected the global economy,” the G-20 paper said. In addition, according to Monday evening, Russia accepted that the final declaration quoted from a United Nations resolution on the war. In this, the war is sharply condemned and Russia is asked to withdraw its troops.
Putin’s chief negotiator is also said to have agreed that the use of nuclear weapons should be described as inadmissible in the final declaration.
In addition to the EU, the two-day G-20 summit will be attended by the countries Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the represented in the United States.
The “Group of 20” together accounts for almost two-thirds of the world’s population, three-quarters of world trade and four-fifths of global economic power. The annual summit has been held since 2008. The G20 now deals with many other global issues in addition to economic and financial issues.